What Happens When You Combine Different Drugs?

For many illicit drug users, mixing and matching different substances is commonplace. While illegal drug abuse is dangerous enough as it is, combining drugs with alcohol or other substances can lead to unforeseen and unwelcome side effects—and even death. In order to stay out of hospitals and drug rehab centers, avoid these harmful drug combinations at all costs.

Mixing Drugs With Alcohol

Alcohol never plays well with other drugs. Mixing alcohol with cocaine—which is common among cocaine users in Escondido, California—can have detrimental effects on cardiac health. Ingested together, cocaine and alcohol combine to form a new substance called cocaethylene, which causes rapid increases in heart rate, memory impairment and risky, spontaneous behavior.

Combining alcohol and marijuana rapidly increases THC levels in the blood, which leads to increased impairment and overall feelings of dizziness and nausea. Mixing alcohol and MDMA can cause further dehydration and dangerously high body temperatures.

Mixing alcohol and prescription painkillers is never a good idea, as both substances are nervous system depressants. When taken in combination, users may fall asleep in their Escondido-area homes and stop breathing altogether.

Pairing alcohol with benzodiazepines is an equally bad idea; a double dose of strong depressants can lead to unconsciousness, organ failure or coma. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 25 percent of patients admitted to drug rehab centers for benzodiazepine abuse also abused alcohol.

Mixing Drugs With Other Drugs

Combining different illicit substances can lead to all kinds of nasty side effects. Combining marijuana with MDMA can make users paranoid, while mixing cocaine with ecstasy may cause heart problems or a stroke.

Injecting heroin after taking crack cocaine can exacerbate the risk of heroin addiction, after which users may require treatment from local Escondido-area drug rehab centers. However, cocaine and heroin are most deadly when injected together in the form of “speedballs.”

While cocaine stimulates the heart, heroin depresses respiratory activity, leading to simultaneous cardiac and respiratory arrest. With the potential for strokes, seizures, heart attacks and more, it’s no wonder Chris Farley and John Belushi succumbed to the wildly unpredictable effects of speedballs.

A Dangerous Combination

While illicit drugs and alcohol are never truly safe for human consumption, mixing and matching different substances can have disastrous effects on the human body. Furthermore, the side effects of various drug cocktails are not very well studied, which limits the amount hospitals and drug rehab centers can do for their patients.

Whether you live on the East Coast or in Escondido, combining different drugs is never a good idea. To avoid overdose, heart problems or even death, don’t play mix and match with substances of abuse.